


Only a Man

by ursarager



Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, F/M, First Kiss, Love In Wayhaven 2021, Stargazing, Unresolved Emotional Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 12:55:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29454159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ursarager/pseuds/ursarager
Summary: Nowadays, just the detective saying his name is enough to make Adam’s stomach churn miserably, his mouth drying up. He had no comeback prepared, because as always, she was right. Her skill at picking people apart, using context clues to glean insight… even this late at night, her mind was sharp.But this was how they were. Both aware of each others’ feelings, each others’ intentions, but neither doing anything about it. Adam for his own reasons, well known to all involved, and Wenjing…Patient. Never pressing. Never expecting more from him than he was willing to give.Sometimes, Adam wished she would.--A Love in Wayhaven Valentine's event gift for Tumblr user @kannotdeal.
Relationships: Female Detective/Adam du Mortain
Kudos: 17





	Only a Man

**Author's Note:**

> So tbh I've only played the game a couple times, I'm a pretty new fan, so apologies in advance if anything seems out of character. This takes place... somewhere between books 2 and 3 probably? I don't know, I'm not really the guy to follow canon in my writing, lmfao
> 
> Either way, this was fun to write. Thanks to Tumblr users @lilas and @veeteeshirt for organizing this event!

Adam heard the detective’s footsteps - heartbeat, soft breathing - approaching his room. Before she even knocked on the door, he was there, his hand twitching at his side as he fought the instinct to reach for the doorknob.

But his concentration and self-control had been failing him, as of late. He opened the door and was greeted to the surprised expression on the detective’s face, her hand raised to knock. He gave her a nod and stepped past her, as if he had somewhere to be. As if he hadn’t opened the door just to see her face.

“Uh… hello...” The detective said, voice trailing off. Adam’s well-trained ears picked up her dejected sigh.

_Turn around and say hello_ , a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Nate’s scolded, _Don’t forget your manners_.

He stopped, half-turned, nodded. “Detective.”

Wenjing, taking his acknowledgement as the invitation he wasn’t sure he intended it to be, fell into step beside him as they left Adam’s room. Adam slowed his pace, not only to allow the detective to keep up, but also to buy himself some time as he thought of an excuse for leaving his room this late. Beyond a fear of being anywhere near his bedroom with the detective. Alone.

As stated, his self-control had been failing him, as of late.

Wenjing asked, “Where are you headed?”

Adam knew that the detective was good with people, that not even he could cover up and excuse the majority of his awkward behavior around her. But that didn’t mean he was prepared to fully acknowledge that fact, and he certainly wasn’t in the habit of answering questions honestly.

“I’m going for a walk,” he replied, because a walk sounded nice. “You’re welcome to join me.”

...What?

Why the hell did he just say that?

Well, it didn’t matter. Adam knew that humans didn’t like walking around at night, especially on nights without a moon to light the way. _Especially_ not with a vampire.

“I’d like that.”

Adam’s steps faltered. Wenjing noticed, he knew, but she didn’t say anything. She never said anything, when she noticed his control falter. Always patient, never pressing, never expecting more from him than he was willing to give. He respected that about her, it was one of the reasons he felt so… comfortable around her. Dangerously comfortable.

Why was it that the less she expected him to open up, the more he found himself wearing his heart on his sleeve?

“You’re hardly dressed for a midnight walk,” Adam said, his instinct to push her away rising like bile in his throat.

Wenjing rubbed her bare arms, pushing back the sleeve of her t-shirt, and gave him a once-over. Adam’s jaw clenched when he realized he was only wearing light sweatpants and a t-shirt of his own. Not even shoes.

“Neither are you,” the detective said, her lips pulling into a smirk. “I’d expect you to be better prepared. Something else on your mind, Adam?”

Nowadays, just the detective saying his name is enough to make Adam’s stomach churn miserably, his mouth drying up. He had no comeback prepared, because as always, she was right. Her skill at picking people apart, using context clues to glean insight… even this late at night, her mind was sharp.

But this was how they were. Both aware of each others’ feelings, each others’ intentions, but neither doing anything about it. Adam for his own reasons, well known to all involved, and Wenjing…

Patient. Never pressing. Never expecting more from him than he was willing to give.

Sometimes, Adam wished she would.

\--

Their walks became a nightly tradition, whenever the detective was staying at their outpost.

Adam desperately wanted to know if she was staying up for him voluntarily, or if she was having trouble sleeping. If her first appearance at his door was her seeking comfort or simply company, if she was getting enough sleep…

“You could just ask,” Nate told him one evening, as he taught Adam how to make hot chocolate in the kitchen. “She probably already knows you feel guilty for keeping her up, she’s smart.”

“I’m aware,” Adam snapped defensively. Nate raised an eyebrow at him. “I doubt it’s a problem. If she was having nightmares, why come to my door expecting comfort?”

Nate laughed quietly and shook his head. He gestured to the kettle, now whistling, Nate’s way of telling Adam that he wasn’t going to waste his time answering a rhetorical question.

Adam dug through the cupboard until he found the detective’s favorite mug - a white, ceramic mug that was translucent, with decorative snowflakes dotting the surface. Nate taught him how much of the chocolate powder Wenjing liked, and had Adam pour the boiling water into the mug.

“Now you stir it,” Nate explained, handing Adam a spoon. “ _Lightly_.”

Adam took the spoon and, after a moment of hesitation, slowly began stirring the cocoa. It was difficult, as he wasn’t used to doing things delicately. Not to mention… he was making this drink for the detective, and just that fact was doing him in. His palms were sweating, fingers gripping both the spoon and the mug handle as tight as he dared.

He wondered what her reaction would be, when he offered her the drink. She would smile, of course, and Adam would feel like someone punched him in the lungs. She would likely curl her fingers around the mug, palms flat on the warm surface to combat the outdoor chill. Maybe she would stop to take a sip, to avoid the drink spilling. Maybe, while stopped, Adam could reach his own hands out to feel that warmth...

“What are you two doing?”

Wenjing’s voice.

Adam’s body tensed, fingers pulling into fists. He watched in horror as the metal spoon bent, and the handle of Wenjing’s mug…

“Adam asked me to teach him how to make your hot cocoa,” Nate explained. His expression was full of pity when he glanced at Adam who was staring, wide-eyed, at the mug handle, shattered in his hand.

Wenjing replied, shyly, “Oh.”

Adam exhaled a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding, and turned around to face the detective. He held out the mug, now missing its handle. “I apologize.”

Wenjing quickly put the pieces together, intuitive as always. Realization widened her eyes when she saw the missing handle and bent spoon still in Adam’s hands. But to Adam’s surprise, she simply laughed and took the mug, her fingertips brushing the back of Adam’s hand in a way that didn’t seem entirely unintentional.

“Okay then,” she said, a teasing lilt to her tone and a fake pout on her face, “Let’s see whether or not my mug died in vain.”

Adam found his gaze drawn to the detective’s lips against his will, as she took a sip of the cocoa. He stood up straight and set his shoulders, preparing for the rejection he suspected was coming. He had certainly stirred too long, too fast, hadn’t added enough of the powder-

“ _Adam_ ,” Wenjing smiled wide, an excited flush to her cheeks. Adam fought against his body to prevent a reaction to his name passing through her lips. “You’ve been holding out on me! This is delicious.”

Adam said, “I will replace the mug.”

“I don’t know, I think it adds character,” Wenjing commented with a smirk, brushing her fingertip over the crack in the ceramic. “I wonder if anyone would believe me if I told them a vampire broke my mug.”

“Detective.”

“I know, Adam,” a roll of her eyes. “I won’t tell anyone.”

\--

“Were the stars the same back then as they are now?”

_Back then_ …

“Mostly. But there were more of them. They were...”

_Thousands, across the sky, when all the torches went out. A girl I knew as a child… we would meet in the hills at night, lay in the grass, stare up at a sky that seemed so endless and magical..._

“Beautiful?”

“Yes,” Adam replied through his clenched teeth, riding the wave of a memory, a feeling long-dead. “Beautiful.”

_We had our first kiss under those stars, and our second, and many more._

“Could you see the milky way? Andromeda galaxy?”

“We didn’t have names for those things, back then,” Adam said with a dry chuckle, remembering how excited he had been, when he was a young immortal, to watch humanity discover things that had once been unthinkable. “But yes.”

The detective smiled and laid back in the grass, next to Adam, who was sitting cross-legged. Both were staring at the stars. The detective said, “I think this has been the clearest night since we started walking together.”

“There have been clearer,” Adam said. “On nights when you were at your home.”

“I was under the impression you didn’t go for walks without me,” Wenjing replied, wryly. Adam wondered if she was disappointed.

“I don’t,” Adam admitted. A familiar smile grew on the detective’s face, a satisfied smile, happy to have gotten Adam to admit her deduction was correct. “But I still notice the stars, out my window.”

“But you haven’t been stargazing?”

“No.”

They fell into an uncomfortable silence. Adam could feel Wenjing’s mind playing over the things he had said, parsing out what he meant by them, reaching a conclusion in her mind. He watched her watch the sky, and wished he could do the same.

Eventually, he succumbed to his desires and laid down next to her on the grass. Still in silence, they watched a satellite pass by among the stars. Adam heard Wenjing’s heart, beating steady, felt the back of their hands brush - were they always that close?

Adam turned his head. Wenjing did the same. They both looked surprised at how close they were, and Adam had to wonder if he had done it unconsciously, constantly - dangerously - unable to control what his body does around the detective.

He tensed, immediately, ready to back away. He inhaled sharply, preparing an apology that died on his tongue when Wenjing propped herself up on her elbow and leaned forward. Her heart rate was high, warmth radiated off of her, her smell was sharp and all-consuming, her hair framed her soft face, and Adam… 

Adam was only a man.

He reached forward without thinking, tucking his hand under her hair, finding the warmth of the back of her neck. He pulled her down to meet him, and this time did not hesitate.

Their lips met gently, without much fanfare. Adam wondered what he had been so afraid of, as his mind simply slowed, melted into the moment beneath the stars.

Wenjing was the first to deepen the kiss, pressing more insistently against Adam’s mouth as her hand found his hair and ran fingers over his scalp. The sensation brought a heat to Adam’s groin that he had convinced himself he would never feel again, and it drove him a little bit mad. He growled into Wenjing’s mouth and his tongue found her lower lip. Soon, she parted her lips and allowed him access.

Adam could feel the detective’s body pressed against his own, her chest heavy on his. Thoughts that Adam had been struggling for months to repress all boiled over, filling his mind, as Wenjing continued to work him over with her lips and hands.

The spell broke when they pulled apart, both gasping for breath. Wenjing pressed her forehead to Adam’s, kept her eyes closed while Adam’s opened wide. He could almost feel it, the warmth recede, the thoughts briefly entertained once again locked behind an iron vault made of Adam’s own sheer will. Thoughts and feelings that felt so strong withered away, replaced by shame.

Wenjing felt it, Adam thought, as he knew otherwise she would be content to stay pressed against him in the grass. But no, she pulled back, her warmth replaced by the night’s chill. Adam sat up, an animalistic part of him desperate to chase the feeling of her body pressed to his again. After a long few seconds where they simply sat in silence, he took her hand.

“Wenjing.”

“Don’t,” Wenjing’s voice creaked, “Don’t say anything stupid now, Adam.”

“I don’t intend to.”

**Author's Note:**

> What DOES Adam intend to say? I don't know, and neither do you, because if TWC is going to cockblock me out of emotional Adam moments then SO AM I


End file.
